The field of the invention is ice skating rinks and particularly portable ice skating rinks adapted for use on private lawns, patios, and the like surfaces and requiring only small quantities of water, on the order of a few inches, for the formation of ice.
At one time, so-called "home" ice skating primarily took place on frozen ponds, streams, and other naturally occurring bodies of water. With each of these "home" rinks, there is a real and ever present danger, especially with young children, of death by drowning and/or overexposure upon falling through ice which is too thin to bear the load applied. In order to eliminate this danger, various shallow skating rinks have been proposed for back yard use. While some of the proposals have required powered refrigeration systems for making and maintaining ice, others require only that refrigeration which is provided by Mother Nature.
For instance, it is known to provide a private skating rink which also may double as a wading pool and is made from a vinyl sheet having an integral, inflatable portion which provides a curb for the perimeter of the ice or water. In addition to requiring inflation prior to use, the perimeter curb of this prior art is subject to cutting and/or puncture by skates or the like so as to require patching in order to maintain its inflatability.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 2,996,896 discloses a portable ice rink constructed of a sectional wooden outer framework to which an additional inner wooden frame is bolted in order to sandwich therebetween and retain the edge of a plastic sheet on which the ice is to be formed. The inner wooden frame is provided primarily as a barrier to prevent cutting of the plastic sheet by the ice skates. The inherent bulkiness of the component parts of such a rink does not lend itself to easy portability and erection of the rink.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,049 also discloses a portable ice skating rink or wading pool in which the perimeter is made up of modular semi-rigid side elements, with some of the side elements being elongated and straight and others being curved so as to serve as corners of the perimeter when assembled. One embodiment provides that the tops of the side elements are rounded to mate with correspondingly shaped clamps in order to clamp therebetween the edges of a plastic liner on which the ice is to be formed.
Another so-called portable ice rink is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,002 in which a rigid wall is "formed on site" so as to define the periphery for a separately applied plastic sheet on which the ice is formed. One end of a long plastic tube is tied-off or otherwise closed and the tube is laid out on the ground, with the two ends overlapping so as to close and generally define the perimeter of the rink. Then, the wall is erected by introducing an appropriate material into the open end of the tube and forming the filler material in place. In one embodiment, the filler material is water which is then frozen. In another embodiment, a formed-in-place plastic foam is injected into the tube. Wire clips are provided to hold the separately applied plastic sheet on the tube. There is no disclosure or suggestion of segmenting the formed perimeter wall or of providing couplings for wall segments for purposes of disassembly and ease of reassembly of the rink at another time.
These and other deficiencies in the prior art have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention, as will be more apparent from the appended claims and upon studying the remaining disclosure.